The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has recently reported that India is now the main contributor to global oil consumption growth in 2024 and 2025, surpassing China. For nearly two decades, from 1998 to 2023, China’s oil consumption outpaced India’s every year, consistently leading global oil demand growth. However, India is now forecast to account for a quarter of the total growth in global oil demand.
The EIA predicts that global liquid fuel consumption will rise by 0.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, with even greater growth expected in 2025, reaching 1.3 million bpd. This surge in demand is largely driven by the increasing need for transportation fuels and household cooking fuels in India. Specifically, India’s oil consumption is projected to grow by 220,000 bpd in 2024, followed by a larger increase of 330,000 bpd in 2025. This marks the largest increase in oil consumption globally for both years, according to the EIA’s forecast.
